Pegula is currently ranked 4th in the world on the WTA rankings. The 29-year-old female tennis player has earned $9 million in a rather successful tennis career. However, in Grand Slam tournaments, Pegula has never made it past the quarterfinals.
The American tennis player is also known as the daughter of billionaires Terry and Kim Pegula, who own the Buffalo Bills rugby team. Pegula’s parents’ fortune is estimated at $4 billion. But Pegula doesn’t like being labeled “the richest tennis player in the world”. The Florida-born tennis player has only one big ambition, which is to become a Wimbledon champion.
“The media just refers to me with that label. When in fact, that fortune is not mine. It could be my father’s or my parents’. My family is quite famous in the US, so there is a lot of interest. That doesn’t bother me. But it would be better if people didn’t talk about me that way. Do I care about my parents’ inheritance? No, not at all,” Pegula told The Sun.
Pegula also wants a lot of money, but it has to be from her own efforts. “I want to be called a Wimbledon champion. If I win the championship, I will definitely get a nice bonus. Those will be the coins that I prefer.”
The 2023 Wimbeldon champion will receive a bonus of $ 3 million, enough to change the life of a female tennis player. But more than money, the Wimbledon championship will push Pegula to the next level. The world of women’s tennis is currently dominated by a trio of stars Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. Currently ranked 4th in the world, Pegula is approaching the top three. That is also the reason why she dreams of winning Wimbledon 2023.
Pegula’s father, billionaire Terry Pegula, made a fortune developing natural gas. In his youth, he worked as a petroleum engineer for Getty Oil before founding his own company, East Resources, in 1983 with a $6,000 loan from his family. Later, Terry sold the company for a total value of $ 5.2 billion to switch to the field of sports and entertainment. In 2014, Terry’s Pegula Sports and Entertainment conglomerate beat out Donald Trump and Bon Jovi to buy NFL giants, the Buffalo Bills, for $1.2 billion.
Jessica Pegula also inherited her father’s entrepreneurial genes when she owned the quite successful Ready24 skin care brand. But Pegula is so focused on tennis that she wants to make her mother proud. Kim, Pegula’s mother, suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2022 and is continuing to recuperate at home. She faced “expressive aphasia and memory problems”.
“My mother sacrificed a lot, especially when I was young. She always supported me, did everything to make me better. Now it’s nice to be back home and see mom. But my mom just likes to watch me on TV at the big games. I think that also helped inspire my mother to recover, as she saw her daughter succeed in the tournaments. That’s why I have to work harder and look for the Wimbledon championship,” Pegula said.
The American tennis player’s journey will continue on July 11 with a quarter-final against Marketa Vondrousova, the Czech opponent currently ranked 40th in the world.
Swiatek reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time
World number one, Igor Swiatek, reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time after defeating Belinda Bencic in the third round. The Polish player lost the first set 6-7 but won the two sets again after 7-6 and 6-3. This was Swiatek’s 14th straight win and 9th consecutive quarter-final across all competitions. At the age of 22, Swiatek is the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments since Svetlana Kuznetsova (achieved this achievement at the age of 21).
The referee scolds the audience for opening the champagne
The rare incident took place during the match between Anastasia Potapova and Mirra Andreeva in the third round of Wimbledon. The Australian referee, John Blom, had to pause the match to remind the audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, please do not open the champagne because the players are about to serve.” Caused by an inadvertent spectator who turned on champagne in the middle of the match, it was taboo at Wimbledon because the explosion of champagne could confuse players with the sound of serving.
